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Economy in Brief
Italian Consumer Confidence Remains Hammered Down
Italy's consumer confidence fell month-to-month...
U.S. Current Account Deficit Deepens to Record in Q1'22
The U.S. current account deficit deepened to $291.4 billion during Q1'22...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Declines Further in June But Remains Positive
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index fell to 12 in June...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Edged Down
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended June 18 declined by 2,000 to 229,000...
U.S. Energy Prices Reverse Earlier Gains
Retail gasoline prices surged to $5.01 per gallon (63.1% y/y)...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller August 21, 2018
Retail gasoline prices fell to $2.82 per gallon last week from $2.84 during the prior week. Despite recent declines, prices remained up 19.5% y/y. Haver Analytics constructs factors to adjust for the marked seasonal variation in prices. The seasonally-adjusted gasoline price fell to $2.76 per gallon, but remained up versus $2.60 late last year.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices fell to $66.13 per barrel (+39.2% y/y) last week from $67.91 in the previous week. WTI prices remained lower than the $73.71 peak early in July. Brent crude oil prices fell to $69.82 per barrel last week (+38.0% y/y) from a high of $78.75 three months ago.
Natural gas prices improved last week to $2.97/mmbtu (2.2% y/y), the highest level since early-February.
In the four-weeks ending August 10, gasoline demand fell 1.0% y/y; total petroleum product demand declined 1.6% y/y. Gasoline inventories increased 0.9% y/y, but inventories of all petroleum products fell 4.8% y/y. Crude oil input to refineries rose 0.7% y/y in the last four weeks.
These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on prices, as well as the demand, production and inventory data, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 08/20/18 | 08/13/18 | 08/06/18 | Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon Regular, Monday Price) | 2.82 | 2.84 | 2.85 | 19.5 | 2.47 | 2.31 | 2.03 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl, Previous Week's Average) | 66.13 | 67.91 | 69.46 | 39.2 | 50.87 | 43.22 | 48.90 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, Previous Week's Average) | 2.97 | 2.93 | 2.80 | 2.2 | 2.96 | 2.49 | 2.62 |